WHY HELLO!

I apologize for slacking on my postings...but with the new baby, holidays, and going back to work..its been busy to say the least! My good friend Catherine came over to do Mia's newborn photoshoot (she is 3 weeks old in the pictures) I hope you enjoy these beautiful pictures, I just love how they turned out. Mia will be 2 months on Tuesday ALREADY!!!!

Our Birth Story - December 3, 2008

On December 2nd Nate and I went to our Doctors appointment to determine what the next step was since I was a week overdue, at the appointment the Dr. monitored her heartbeat and my contractions and they also checked the amount of fluid I had in the uterus. During all these tests Nate and I were hoping they would induce us...we were thinking of things we could say (like Nate going out of town) so that they would induce us SOON. Well to our surprise the Doctor walked in and Nate asked her if she was going to send us to the hospital right then and there...and the Doctor said "I think we can do that, let me call the hospital to check if they have room for you". At that moment I was so excited but VERY Nervous! The doctor came back and said that they could induce me at 7am the next morning. I was so happy to hear that, cause I don't think I was ready to go at that moment =) We went home and was able to relax (at least try to) and hopefully get a good night rest. So Wednesday Dec. 3rd we woke up and met my mom and Aunt Carol at the hospital at 7am. We got to our room where we would soon delivery our baby...it was such an exciting time! It was a long wait before they started anything, about noon or 1pm they finally gave me a pill to help soften my cervix because I was only 1 or 2cm dilated. About an hour or two later they inserted this bulb in me to dilate me to 3cm. About an hour or two later the bulb had came out (meaning I was at a 3cm). Then they started me on pitocin...it started getting late so I told my mom she could go home and get some rest and that I would call her if things started to quickly progress. I was having mild contractions through the night, I remember at around 11pm the contractions were getting a little painful but nothing I couldn't handle =) Nate and I were trying to get as much sleep and relaxation as we could, but it was difficult because nurses would come in every 20 minutes or so to check the monitors and get me to move positions because Mia would be in "sleep mode" as they would call it. They finally took me off the pitocin because my body was able to contract on its own. Around 3am several nurses came in and explained to me that my contractions were one on top of the other and that they needed to give me medicine to slow them down. The medicine they gave me made my heart race to the point I got really scared like something was wrong, but they said it would go away...which it did eventually but then my entire body started to shake uncontrollably I started to cry because at that point I was freaking out with not only the shakiness but also because several nurses and the doctor came in and broke my water and told me the baby isn't moving on the monitors and they were concerned. They left the room I told Nate to call my mom because it seemed like we were getting really close and I needed my mom there, to both of our surprise Mom was awake and getting ready to come to the hospital...let me remind you that this was about 3:30am. Minutes later they were all back in my room notifying me that I was going to have to have a C-Section...I was so confused at what went wrong...what did I do wrong...but I knew I couldn't ask questions because they seemed rushed to get me in the Operating room. I was really scared in the operating room because Nate wasn't with me, I guess he had to get in his dressings and some nurses were going to get him as soon as I had my epidural in. Once Nate came in I felt so much more comfortable and safe...now I'm getting excited because I'm going to see my baby girl whom I've waited so so long for!!! During the operation I could feel a lot of pressure and movement of my body but couldn't feel any pain, and all of a sudden the nurse beside me started to say how beautiful she was. They got her out and took her over to the warming bed, and for some reason I did not see them do this....of course Nate went right over to the warming bed to take get a look at his precious baby. I finally heard her cry for the first time, it was such a relief!!!! I remember trying to bend my head to get a glimpse of her...but there were so many nurses surrounding her that I couldn't see. So I then asked Nate if she's ok, and if everything is ok, he smiled at me and said yes!! At this point I couldn't wait any longer to see her...they quickly brought her over to me and at this moment I remember thinking how perfect she was...but also how BIG she turned out to be!!! After a minute or so, they took her away..I guess to the nursery where Nate followed. They stiched me up and wheeled me into the post op room where I was there for nearly 5 hours by myself. I had a few family members come in to see me and show me pictures of Mia...it was so exciting to be able to see her again, but hard that I wasn't getting the real thing!! After the 5 hours passed they wheeled me into my postpartum room where I would get to hold my baby for the first time! When I got in there I was in so much pain that I started crying because I knew I wouldn't be able to hold Mia. Nate brought her over to me and tried handing her over to me but it hurt to even move any part of my body. Nate quickly got the nurse and told her I needed more drugs...so once that kicked in I finally held her and was just the happiest moment of my life!! Even though I got hit by the C-Section bus (as Catherine would say) I was more relieved that Mia was ok and that she was healthy and just absolutely perfect in every way! The first night at the hospital was the worst and best night of my life....Nate had to leave at 9pm because we weren't aloud to have anyone there after hours. About 11pm Mia started crying uncontrollably, and I couldn't get out of bed to help her so I called the nurse...no one came. I called again and no one came...I did everything I could to get out of that bed to get to her and grabbed her up and laid back down in bed...she was screaming at this point and I felt helpless, so I rocked her back and forth holding her tight as she cried...I then started to cry because of the pain and not being able to get her to stop crying. Even though it was a rough night I truly believed that Mia and I bonded because of this. I knew she needed me, and I would do anything for her! Mia ended up getting a little jhondis where she had to sit under the florescent blue light in the nursery. After a few nights at the hospital we were released from the hospital. It was so nice to finally be at home and begin our new family together =)